Gary Brown: Election blame game continues

If you watched any of the Democratic National Convention last week, you know that every bad thing that has happened in the country the last few years is the fault of the Republicans.

At least that has seemed to be the case ever since the Republicans held their convention last month, when everything was blamed on the Democrats.

If you are registered as an Independent or belong to any of several extra parties that turn up every election, you likely are happy.

“Hey, we had nothing to do with it,” you can safely say, holding your arms up in protest. “We never get elected. Nothing is ever our fault. Nobody has let us make a decision for decades.”

There is a certain amount of freedom in being nearly totally out of favor.

But the Democrats and Republicans — they both are to blame. Or neither is to blame, depending upon how you look at it.

If you listened to Democrats last week, all of our problems — a sagging economy, rampant social ills, an unaffordable health care system and, quite possibly, the increase in sports concussions and the decrease in really good movies — occurred because of programs instituted by the previous Republican administration.

Republicans, on the other hand, maintained at their convention in August that they left the country in very good shape. Things couldn’t have been better. They only started to go downhill after the Democrats took over — probably at the very moment the president had his hand on the Bible.

“I solemnly swear,” he said, then you heard a very loud sucking sound when things started to go down the drain.

Hey, that’s not me talking. I just listened to the speeches. I thought I had it figured out. I pretty much knew how I was going to vote. Now I don’t like anybody. I think I’m going to write in the name of my neighbor.

He hasn’t done anything that greatly damaged the country, at least not that the Democrats or Republicans mentioned. If they could blame anything on him, they would.

You know we’re going to have to listen to Republicans and Democrats yap until Election Day.

Candidates will give speeches at campaign stops, knowing that their opponents are not in town and won’t be able to come up on stage and punch them. So they’ll say harsh things about the opposing party.

“And our opponents don’t just have bad ideas about economic policies. Remember when you lost your keys a few days ago? We think they took them. ...”

Negative political ads will continue the debate, perhaps taking it to a personal level. “He has absolutely no foreign policy, and he wears ties that are embarrassing to the country.”

Personally, the last crucial part of the campaign is just starting, and I’m already tired of the bickering. I know we’ve got a bunch of problems in this country, but frankly I’m surprised there are so many differences of opinion on how to solve them. If there were that many potential solutions, you’d think we already would have stumbled on one that worked.So I’ve decided I’m not going to place any blame. I’ll vote my conscience. I might flip a coin. Or I might vote for my neighbor. He’s pretty bright. I’m sure he’d do a good job, no matter what another neighbor says.

Contact Gary Brown at gary.brown@cantonrep.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.